Hampshire FRS comms Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service has received a prestigious award to recognise the organisation’s communications team as the best across the whole of the public sector.

The award ceremony was held at Arsenal football club’s Emirates Stadium, in north London, and PR specialists, communications experts and agencies travelled from all over the UK to vie for the coveted accolades

The HFRS team won the UK Public Sector Communications (PSC) Award for being Large In-house Communications Team of the Year.

It was also shortlisted for Best Use of Video, Media Relations Campaign of the Year and Internal Communications Campaign of the Year.

Head of Communications, Administration and Inclusion for HFRS Paul Breakwell said: “We are honoured to see our talented communications team get this recognition for all the hard work they do in promoting the fire service to the public and our people within  an organisation that inspires passion and dedication, and always strives to be the best.

“Nationally, fire services – as well as the public sector as a whole – are facing  challenging financial times. For our communicators, this requires more innovation, creativity and flexibility in delivering information and messages in a way that enables the service to move forward by ensuring our key audiences know what we are about, and are engaged in what we do.

‘’Our communications team is delivering strongly and has been playing in integral role in making life safer through increasingly engaging staff communications, class-leading use of social media, and effective communications with the media. I’m really proud of them.’’

The judges said of HFRS’s communications team: “The fire and rescue service has clear aims and strategies enabling them to develop and engage with the public. A fantastic entry and worthy winner."